Seeing Katie
by A Scarlet Rebel
Summary: Nico Di Angelo had never felt this way around a girl: sweaty palms, stuttering. And he certainly never thought that girl would be Katie Gardner. But, Nico soon finds out, his harmless little crush on Katie could make his summers alot harder.
1. Things he never noticed

Seeing Katie

Chapter 1:

Things he never noticed

Nico couldn't remember very clearly the exact details of what had happened that afternoon. It seemed so distant. Really, it had only happened a few days ago: when he first noticed Katie Gardner.

It had been very sudden, almost unexpectable. It had been around noon, Nico was just walking around camp. He was glad that they had finally finished the Hades cabin, so he decided to take a break and just walk around at a relaxed pace.

So he set off, walking around, enjoying the peace and quiet around him. He wasn't in a hurry. He was just admiring the scenery that surrounded him.

He was walking down the strawberry fields, when suddenly, he noticed he wasn't alone.

There was someone by the strawberries, pulling the weeds out of the ground by were they grew.

It was a girl. She was crouched down, collecting the weeds in one hand and pulling them out with the other. When the weeds became stubborn, she merely muttered something under her breath and they came right out.

Nico became quiet, trying to see who the girl was. She had brown hair that trailed down her back.

As he was sneaking up on the girl, he clumsily stepped on a twig.

She whipped around, surprised, and saw Nico.

"Oh," she said, "it's just you."

The funny thing was, Nico recognized the girl. It was Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter. But, there was something, well, _different_ about her. It was as if Nico was looking at her in a new light. He suddenly felt very nervous.

"Uh, what are you doing?" He silently cursed himself for not having something else to say.

Katie smiled. "I'm baking a cake," she said, sarcastically.

Nico grinned. "With weeds?"

She laughed, which made him feel a lot surer of himself. "Yeah, it's supposed to be good for colon health."

He laughed too, and looked at her in the eyes. They were brown like the soil of a good harvest.

Nico felt his face turn red. Why did he have to pick _now _to go red? He didn't even understand _why_ he was going red. He had never acted this way in front of a girl: feeling nervous, blushing, stumbling over his words.

She tried to get up from the ground, but she didn't seem to able to.

Katie sighed. "I've been crouched down here so long; I don't even know what time it is." She looked up at Nico. "Will you help me up?"

He grabbed her hands, trying not to blush as he felt this little spark fly when he took hold of them. He helped her get to her feet.

When she finally stood up, she let go of his hand and brushed the dirt off of them on her shorts. Nico rubbed his sweaty palms together, trying to think of something to say. "So, what have you been doing this summer?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much. After the war, things got pretty quiet. Just been yelling at Travis and Connor, mostly."

Nico smiled, knowing how much the Stoll twins got on Katie's nerves.

"What have _you_ been doing?" she asked him.

He wasn't expecting a question to be shot at him for quite some time. And when he pictured this moment, when she asked him a question, he'd be ready. But, sadly, he wasn't.

"Uh, I—I've been, you know, just… finishing the cabin and… and stuff."

He was sure she'd laugh at him and make him feel like throwing up, but she just smiled and said, "Oh, that's cool."

Nico beamed inside. "T-Thanks." Did he just stutter? He gave himself a mental slap. How, _how_ did he let himself get so clumsy!? They were just talking for crying out loud!

"How'd the cabin turn out?" she asked him.

Nico rubbed the back of his neck, trying to rid himself of his redness. "Oh, it's pretty awesome. Though, I wish I had someone to share it with. For now it's just me."

Katie looked down at the ground and smiled. "You're lucky, in a way. I mean, I love my brothers and sisters, but, it'd be nice to have my _own_ cabin."

He sighed and said, "Believe me; you _don't _want your own cabin. Sure, it sounds great, but it's always so quiet in there. And with that cabin all to yourself, you also get to eat by yourself. You do _everything_ by yourself. It's not fun, just ask Percy."

"No," Katie said, looking at him and smiling, "I don't need to ask Percy. I believe you."

Nico looked down, thinking that would stop his cheeks and neck form turning red: not looking into her fierce brown eyes. Well, that theory died _real_ quickly, because he could still feel his face heating up. "Oh, um… ok."

Katie looked around, turned to Nico and asked, "Do you know what time it is?"

"Oh, uh," he looked down at his watch. "1:15."

"Oh, shoot," she said. "Sorry, Nico, but I have to go. My cabin's going to practice some swordplay."

Nico looked down, disappointed. "Oh, alright. Well, bye."

Katie gave him a look that said she really _was_ sorry. "I'm _really_ sorry Nico. Maybe we can talk again sometime soon. See you."

She waved goodbye at him and ran down toward the cabins. Nico watched her until she was out of sight.

After she was out of sight, he looked down and sighed. There was so much he had never noticed about Katie Gardner before.

The way her hair swung from side to side when she ran. The way her eyes lit up when she laughed. The way she tenderly planted flowers in the Demeter cabin's window boxes. The way she held her rake when she worked in the camp's garden.

Nico was suddenly jealous of that rake. She held it so tenderly, it made him wish that was him.

So he continued his walk, thinking about all the things Katie did that he had once seemed too busy to notice.

_Author's Note: _Well, that's it for now. More is coming, really soon and I promise I won't disappoint! Hope you liked it! Please review!


	2. One slight problem

_Author's Note: _Thanks to everyone who commented! You guys (and girls) are awesome!!  
A special thanks to **Hestia Is Awesome** for helping me point out my grammar errors. This time, I tried to make as little mistakes as possible. There might still be some in there, but, hey, I'm only human.

Oh, and, this takes place in the beginning of the year _after_ the war.  
Here's the next chapter!!! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2:

One _slight_ problem

Nico went about that day, getting back to his regular routines. But, his mind couldn't help wondering back to that beautiful, perfect, agriculture-loving brunette he had seen for the very first time by the camp's strawberries. Well, not the _very_ first time; that had been the first time he had seen her _properly. _Seen her for who she is, not just that Demeter girl.

That night at dinner, he was sitting alone at the Hades table, as usual. His eyes kept darting back between his plate and Katie's face.

She was sitting at the Demeter table, laughing with her siblings and enjoying the camp's food. Every once in a while, Nico looked at her, and she was staring right back at him. They held their gaze for about two seconds each time, before he looked back down at his plate and she looked at the ground.

Nico was oblivious to everything around him except Katie. Whenever their eyes met, it felt as if her deep brown eyes were melting into his face, seeing right through him. Seeing the real Nico.

As he was walking back to his cabin in a happy sort of trance, he ran into a friend of his: Annabeth Chase. And by "ran into," he literally nearly ran her over.

"Whoa!" he heard Annabeth cry as she was nearly thrown onto the ground.

"Oh, sorry," Nico said, staring off into space, trying to help her up.

"That's fine," she said getting up. Once she got up, she looked closely at Nico through narrow eyes, clearly puzzled. "Are you okay, Nico?"

Nico looked down at the soil on the ground and sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay." He looked up at Annabeth, a goofy grin draped across his face. "How could I not be okay on such a wonderful, beautiful day?"

Annabeth stared at him like he just suddenly sprouted another head. "Um… ok. Why so happy? Should I be worried about you? Are you under any medication I should know about?"

He laughed and looked dreamily off into the distance. "No. It's just that, well… nothing, nothing…."

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows together. There was something he wasn't telling her. Something he didn't _want _to tell her. This made her feel suddenly mad.

"What? What is it?"

Nico looked distracted. "Nothing, nothing. Really, it's… nothing."

Annabeth stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. She didn't like it when people kept secrets from her. "Oh, come on, Nico. I'm not stupid. You never said it was a great day since Bianca became a Hunter, let alone a 'wonder, beautiful day.' Now," she leaned in and whispered, "I know something's up. Tell me now, or else at the next game of capture the flag, you're going to regret it."

He looked at her, startled, suddenly out of his trance. "What do you mean by that?"

Annabeth gave him one of her threatening looks that could have made a fully grown Cyclops run and hide. "Let's just say, the humiliation will be so bad, you'll be force to live the rest of your days under a rock."

Nico gulped. You did _not_ want to upset Annabeth Chase. He looked at her, eyes full of fear and released a shaky breath. "Now, now, Annabeth. No need to do something hasty."

She narrowed her eyes. "Watch me."

Nico's eyes widened. "If I tell you, will you promise not to do something that might be hard to explain to the authorities?"

Annabeth kept a poker face on. "Maybe…."

Nico closed his eyes, trying to figure out a way to say this. "I… I… well, you see, I… um—"

His eyes shot open to reveal Annabeth, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh, come on. What you have to say can't be all that bad. Say it. I'm all ears."

Nico gave her a hesitant look then went on rambling. "Well, what I'm trying to say is that… I… I kind of, you know… I have, um, uh… a, a, uh—"

"Nico!" Annabeth shouted, almost causing him to fall over. "Spit it out!"

"I keep a teddy bear underneath my pillow!"

They stood there in silence for a while, until Annabeth doubled over laughing. She laughed so hard, she nearly hit the ground.

After she had laughed for what seemed like an endless period of time, she slowly regained her posture, dried the tears of laugher streaming down her face and said, "I-I'm sorry. That-That was j-just too funny. I mean, a son of _Hades_, keep a teddy bear? But seriously," she said, looking at him, her poker face back on, "what's the secret?"

Nico looked up at her, trying to convince her that there was no other secret. "No, really, I do have a teddy bear. He's in my cabin, I'm not joking."

Annabeth scoffed. "I'm not an idiot, what's the secret? Or, a better question would be, what's her name?"

He blushed and looked down at the ground. "I-I don't know what you're talking about…."

But ever before he looked up, he could sense the hostile air became lighter. He could feel the grin grow wider and wider on her face.

"Come on…. Tell me her name. Please…."

He didn't look up. He knew he couldn't meet her gaze. "Um, uh… I-I don't really know… how… to."

Annabeth sighed. "Fine, tell me the first and last letters of her name."

"Her first name only, or—"

"Both."

"Um, ok." Nico took a deep breath. "K… E. Um- uh, ok… G… R."

He could hear Annabeth gasp. "Katherine Grader? The Aphrodite girl?"

"No!" Nico shouted, glaring up at her. "Katie Gardner! The _Demeter _girl! I'm in love with KATIE GARDNER!!!"

Annabeth stared at him with wide eyes full of shock. And he'd said that kind of loud, too. So now there were some Hephaestus campers, running around, thinking he was nuts. Great.

Before he knew it, Annabeth had grabbed his wrist, swooped into the Hades cabin and closed the door behind her.

"Tell me everything."

So Nico was forced to sit there and re-tell his entire encounter with Katie. At one point, he was so lost in his description of the way she smiled at him and said his name that he was in a trance until Annabeth snapped her fingers in front of his face.

She couldn't help smiling as Nico described his little run in with Katie.

"Oh… that's so sweet." Then, suddenly, she remembered something she wished she hadn't. "Um, Nico?"

He nodded dreamily.

"It's great that you like her and all, but… there's something you should know."

He shot up from where he sat. "What, what is it? Does she not like me? Will she only think of me as, 'that little Hades boy'?" He moaned and slapped his hand against his forehead. "No…."

Annabeth was nervous how he'd take the _real_ news. "No, it's not that. Well, it's just that… well… Nico there's no easy way for me to say this… but… Katie's, already… um, she's got a—"

"A what? A what?"

"She's already… got a… a, a boyfriend."

Nico felt like he had just been soaked with a bucket of ice cold water. Like it had just awakened him from a fantasy that probably would've never come true. The cold, deceiving, bitter truth. "What?"

Annabeth gave him a look somewhere between a grimace and sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"Wait," he said, trying to kid himself into thinking she was lying, "who is he?"

Annabeth talked, looking as if every word she uttered pained her, "Well, you remember Pollux, right?"

"No… no… she fell for that _terd?!"_

"Well, after the war ended, Katie felt really sad because she had lost so many people she cared about. Her siblings, her friends. But anyway, Pollux comforted her, knowing what it felt like to lose someone close. After that, they just—"

She was cut off by a moaning Nico, who threw his head back and wailed, "No… no, it can't be…."

She tried to finish her sentence. "They just kind of started—"

"No! I can't hear this!" Nico shot up from his bed and paced around the cabin with his hands over his ears. "La, la, la, la, la!" He yelled franticly, trying to block out the rest of Annabeth's statement.

"And they, they started—"

"LA, LA, LA!" he screamed louder.

"They started dating and—"

"LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!!!"

"They started to go on dates and get to know each other better."

Nico knew his endless chorus of 'la, la, la' was pointless. He heard every word that came out of Annabeth's mouth.

Even long after she was done, he kept his chorus of la la's going. After a while, when his lungs were thirsting for air and his throat was painfully soar. He shut his mouth and sat back down on his bed, depressed.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said softly. "I know how it feels."

Nico turned to her. "Really?"

She released a deep breath. "Yeah, I know what it's like. Sitting there on the sidelines, wanting to jump in and scream, 'No! Don't do it! I love you!' But, there's just something holding you back, and you feel as if… as if you don't matter in that person's life."

"Wow," Nico said. "That was deep." He raised an eyebrow at her. "So… who's the lucky guy?"

Annabeth looked down. "As if you don't know…."

Nico faked a gasp. "Certainly Percy would _never_ do that, would he?"

"Well, he did," she said, looking off into the distance. "And it broke my heart. So, I know how you feel."

A light bulb suddenly went off in his head. "So, that means you'll help me break them up?"

She looked up, startled at his suggestion. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way…. Nico, I could never do that."

"Oh, come on," he moaned, giving her puppy dog eyes. "Please…."

Annabeth looked at him harshly. "No."

"What if it were Percy, holding hands with a certain red-haired girl we know as our oracle?"

She suddenly blushed and looked down. "How'd you know it was Rachel?"

"Oh, I didn't. I just sort of threw a name out there." A grin lit his face.

While Annabeth looked down, trying to hide her flaming cheeks, she said, "Fine, I'll help. But I refuse to call it 'breaking them up.' Got it?"

Nico smiled. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

"Good. Now, I have to get back to the Athena cabin before curfew. And brighten up, you have three more months to win her heart."

She got up and marched out the door without so much as even a goodbye. Nico sat there and stared out the window, when he saw something that made him want to faint: A certain Demeter girl holding hands with a certain Dionysus boy.

Nico crept down by the window, trying not to be seen. He peeked out the edge and what he saw made him wish he had just poked his own eyeballs out with a pin. Katie and Pollux where sitting under a tree, laughing, his free arm around her waist. Nico wanted to throw up.

As he continued to stare at them with wide eyes, he noticed Katie looked a little uneasy. Her eyes kept darting back from Pollux's face, to the Hades cabin. Nico had to keep ducking out of her line of vision.

The longer he sat, the more hopeless his quest for Katie's heart seemed. Just as he was about to give up completely, something occurred: Pollux leaned over, and kissed Katie.

* * *

Even though Pollux's lips were on her's, Katie couldn't help think about a certain dark-haired boy she'd seen today.

She didn't know what it was about Nico that caught her attention, was it his warm smile, his caring look, or was it his dark eyes. The same dark eyes most people thought were a mask for his mood, that his eyes were dark and hard to read. But Katie could read them like the pages of a book. And just like any good book, they pulled her in.

Katie mentally kicked herself. She was dating _Pollux._ She had to keep her head out of the clouds.

When they pulled apart, Pollux smiled at her. She returned it only half-heartedly. He suddenly gave her a worried look.

"Are you ok, Katie-kins?" he said, placing a hand on her forehead. "Do you feel sick?"

Katie pushed his hand away. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Are you sure you're ok?" he said, feeling her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked down at the ground, refusing to meet eyes with him. "I-I guess I ate something bad or… yeah, that must be it."

She felt guilty she had been kissing him and thinking of Nico. She usually always had a great time with Pollux. Wait, why was she even _thinking_ about Nico? She shook her head as if to get the thought out of her brain.

"Well, come here," he said, pulling her closer to him. He placed her head on his chest and lightly rubbed her back.

Katie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She inhaled the sweet smell of grape that usually hung around Pollux. She didn't try to pull away; instead, she just sat there in his arms, feeling absolutely defenseless.

After Katie had sat there, feeling _slightly_ uncomfortable for nearly an eternity, Pollux finally pulled apart.

"There," he said. "Do you feel better?"

_No, _Katie thought, _now I just feel GUILTY!_ But she didn't say that out loud.

She just politely shook her head and said, "No, I really don't. I think I should get back to my cabin. It's getting late, anyway."

She got up to leave. But, to her discontent, so did Pollux.

"Ok, I'll walk you back." He grabbed her hand.

She smiled back weakly at him. They walked to the cabins in silence.

When they arrived at the door of the Demeter cabin, Katie looked over at the Hades cabin and thought she saw a tuft of dark hair….

Pollux smiled at her. "Well, goodnight."

He leaned forward and Katie quickly released his hand and turned into the Demeter cabin, faintly saying, "Goodnight."

* * *

Nico had seen the _entire_ "yuck feast" from his window. _Emphasis _on the _yuck._

He slunk into his bed feeling _even more _discouraged than before.

* * *


	3. The Quest Begins

_Author's Note: _Don't worry readers, I am not dead! Finally! I have updated! It took a while, but, hey, better late than never. Enjoy!

Oh, and by the way, when Annabeth was talking about Percy dating Rachel and how it broke her heart, she meant when it happened in the _past. _Percy and Annabeth are now a happy couple, very much together. Nico also mentioned that Rachel was the oracle in Chapter two, and that was another hint that the whole dating Rachel thing happened BEFORE. It's all in the past! They ARE together again! Percabeth still lives!

On with the story….

-Scars

Chapter 3:

The Quest Begins

Nico got up early the next morning, still wondering why he felt so down. Then, the memories of what he saw out his cabin window the day before came flooding back to him. He suddenly felt nauseous and depressed when the vivid memory of Katie kissing Pollux replayed inside his mind.

He looked outside the window, half expecting to see Pollux and Katie underneath the same tree, looking far too comfortable snuggling each other. But, no one was there, just the trees and the flowers rustling in the wind.

Nico slowly allowed himself to breathe again. The world looked pretty peaceful outside. The sun was shining, the wind was softly whistling through the trees.

It seemed that nature was completely oblivious to the way Nico was feeling. He felt… well… he didn't really know how to explain it. He felt miserable because of Katie dating Pollux. He felt angry that Pollux was even BORN. No, wait, angry that Pollux was ever even a THOUGHT. And he felt… he felt… he felt this strange squirmy feeling in his gut every time he even saw Katie. He didn't exactly know what it was or how to explain it, but it made his heart beat a little faster every time she walked by. It made his brain stop working at the mere thought of her. It made him feeling like a complete idiot.

He kept looking out of the window, enjoying the view of the sun beginning to rise ahead of him. This early in the morning, the camp almost seemed… _normal. _Not that there was anything _strange _about a bunch of half-god, half-mortal children running around a camp with swords, spears, bows and arrows, training to kick monster butt. To a demigod, this was a usual day.

As he kept staring out his window, enjoying the scenery and tranquility around him, he thought he saw a figure.

No, it _couldn't_ be a figure. It was way too early in the morning, even for Chiron. But this figure had just two legs and seemed fairly human. Then, Nico noticed the figure had long, brown-looking hair. It seemed to stretch down its back….

Katie.

* * *

Katie was walking along the shore of the beach, trying to think.

What was going on with her lately? She liked Pollux, and now… now she wished she didn't even have to see him.

Ever since that afternoon… the afternoon she had first met Nico Di Angelo, her emotions had been mixed up. She didn't think straight, like she used to. Everything seemed different.

She took a deep breath as she inhaled the smell of the sea. The sand felt cool beneath her feet. Sometimes Katie wondered if she was really a daughter of Poseidon, but she always felt even MORE relaxed when she was by plants and the dirt.

She closed her eyes and let the breeze of the sea blow through her hair. It felt so peaceful out here. It almost made her forget about all of her problems.

Katie stared into the sand, wondering if her life would EVER go back to being normal.

But, of course, life was NEVER normal for a demigod as mixed up as she was.

All of a sudden, she heard a noise from behind her. She could hear a person approaching her. All she could do was stand there and pray to every god out there, '_Please don't let it be Pollux, _please_ don't let it be Pollux--'_

"Hey," she heard a familiar voice say.

She turned to face the one and only, Nico Di Angelo.

"Oh, hi," she said, taking a seat in the wet sand and taking a deep breath.

"Can I sit here?" he asked hesitantly.

Katie grinned to herself. "I don't know, can you?"

Nico smiled. "Ha, Ha, very funny." He sat down next to her and looked out into the horizon. "Wow," was all he could say at the beautiful sight of the sun rising over the water, blending perfectly together.

"Yeah, I know," Katie said, sighing. She turned to him. "So what brings you out here?"

Nico replied, "Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Katie laughed lightly. "Seriously," she said, scrunching her eyebrows at him. "Why are you out here?"

Nico shrugged. "You know… just here to think."

"Think?" she asked, curiously. "About what?"

Nico took a deep breath. Truthfully, he was here to talk to her and think. About everything. But mostly about her.

"You know… thinking about stuff…."

"Like what?"

"About… a-about," he took a deep breath, trying to find a way that he could say this, without actually saying it. "Just about… about, um- you know… Katie, I--"

She looked up at him, smiling. "It's so cute when you stutter."

Did she just say that? She almost slapped herself. But, something inside of Katie just let that slip. And it felt easy to say. Just like asking how the weather was, or something casual. It just rolled off her tongue.

But now, she wished she hadn't even opened her big mouth.

Nico was blushing like crazy. Suddenly, he had forgotten what she had even asked.

They sat there in award silence for a little while before Nico finally remembered their conversation and asked hesitantly, "So… why are _you_ out here?"

Katie looked down. "Honestly, I'm here to think, too."

Before Nico could interrupt to ask cockily about what like she had done to him, she opened her mouth and kept going.

"It's just that… I'm not sure about anything anymore. Nothing is the same for some reason. I'm just so confused."

She had said more than she wanted to. It was just… so _easy_ to talk to Nico, something that she never really had with Pollux. Usually, she just kept her feelings to herself around Pollux. But around Nico, it was different. The air was lighter for some reason.

She took a deep breath. Katie felt better now that she had said that out loud. She hadn't realized how much pressure she had been feeling with that bottled up inside of her.

When she looked up, Nico was staring at her in concern. "Confused? What are you confused about?"

Katie felt tears forming in her eyes. She hadn't realized just how confused and frustrated she really felt. "Confused about everything!" she managed to choke out in a strangled sob.

"Oh, Hades no," Nico said, quickly placing an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "Please, Katie. _Please _don't cry."

She sobbed on his shoulder, saying muffled things, like, "The world just doesn't make sense anymore!" and "And I-I don't know what to do!"

Nico gently rubbed her back. He couldn't think about anything except Katie, and why she was so sad. It seemed that when she was sad, sadness swallowed him. Everything beautiful about the day was suddenly gone. The only thing that really mattered was that Katie was sad. More than that, she was sobbing harder than ever now.

It was a while before Nico noticed how close he was to Katie and the fact that his arms where around her. He slowly began to blush, but still he spoke soft words of comfort to her.

When she had calmed down enough to get a word out without crying, she looked up at him.

"Thanks Nico," she said, smiling a watery smile, and eyes shining through all of the tears. "That… that really made me feel better." She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Um, you're welcome, I guess," he said, slowly letting go of her, but letting her head stay on his shoulder.

Katie didn't want Nico to let go of her just yet. It felt… comforting whenever he held her. It felt like she had a place where she could pour her heart out and feel safe.

Nico sat there for a while, enjoying the feel of Katie on his shoulder, enjoying the breeze blowing on his face, and enjoying the faint smell of… what was it? Daisies, maybe? No… this was definitely something else. It was more like… like a Jasmine flower. It smelled sweet, and partially strong. Nico guessed it was because of the fact that she was a daughter of Demeter that she smelled like a flower.

He sat there, almost intoxicated by her scent, when all of a sudden, he was roughly awoken by Katie, who had just removed her head from his shoulder and began to talk.

"Nico, can I ask you something?" she asked in a soft voice that, for some reason, made Nico's knees turn to butter.

"S-Sure," he replied, still a little shaken by the sound of her voice so close to his ear.

Katie took a deep breath, trying to find the right wording for her question. "If… if there was this… this _pest, _this _disturbance _in YOUR life, that was stopping you from _really_ living your life to the fullest, like it was holding you back, what would you do to it?"

Nico turned to her, a little confused at the question. "You mean… like it was stopping you from reaching your goals?"

"Exactly!" Katie exclaimed. "Like it's stopping you from what you REALLY want. Like… like it's there as a wall, right smack in between you… and what you really wish for. What would you do to it?"

Nico shivered slightly as he felt Katie's dark, penetrating eyes on him, watching him keenly, waiting for an answer.

"Um… well, I'd probably get rid of that obstacle that was standing in my way of living life."

"Really?" she asked in wonder, placing both of her hands on one of his shoulders, staring at him now even _more_ intensely.

Nico could feel his face burning. "Y-Yeah. I'd take that distraction or whatever-it-is that is stopping me and toss it out the window!" Nico felt adrenaline pumping in his veins. "YEAH!" For some reason, he just had a vivid mental picture of himself, tossing Pollux out of a window….

He got up so sharply and suddenly, that Katie was taken by surprise and nearly tipped over and dropped into the sand. She would have, too, if it wasn't for Nico, who grabbed her arm just as she fell.

For a second, all time seemed to be frozen.

Their hands still joined, Katie stared into Nico's eyes, not seeing a simple little son of Hades, but seeing a kind, thoughtful person who cared about her and what she thought. Nico stared back into her own eyes, seeing nothing but deep brown and also seeing an amazing girl, who really understood him and valued him as a person, and not just because he could summon a few skeletons out of the ground to take care of the problem.

They both stood there, slightly breathless.

Katie all of a sudden had an urge to run her fingers through Nico hair. She almost physically slapped herself for that one.

Nico wanted to just stand there forever.

But, of course, it just HAD to end.

It seemed as though the god that had been so kind as to stop time for them, wasn't feeling so generous anymore, and that time had begun to work normally again.

Katie was first to look away. Nico could see that her face was a deep scarlet.

"Um… I-I think I have to go. It's getting to be about time for breakfast, anyway." She slowly, and almost painfully, removed her hand from Nico's. Katie waved a goodbye and took off at a run down to the pavilion for breakfast.

Nico just stood there, like a complete moron, staring after her like a sad puppy. Then, he remembered his quest, his anger, and the cause of it all.

He sneered, picturing Pollux, his arm wrapped smugly around a confused and tortured Katie, almost rubbing the fact that she was his in Nico's face.

_So… the quest begins,_ Nico thought to himself, feeling ready to take on the strongest minotaur if it meant Katie's heart would be his.


	4. Confessions to Katie Gardner

_Author's Note: _Do not worry, everyone! I have resolved the matter of the person who was copying my story! She has said she's sorry and has deleted the story that was basically mine! I have forgiven her, so everything is better now! Seeing Katie is MY original story, and NO ONE else's! So, you see ANOTHER story out there that sounds like mine, THEY are copying ME, and I would love to know who it is! But, I have forgiven 'Percy Jackson's Half Sister.'

On with the story!

-Scars

Chapter 4:

Confessions to Katie Gardner

The rest of that day, every time Nico saw Pollux, he had a strong desire to open a hole in the ground beneath Pollux's feet, sending him to the Underworld. But, he refrained from doing so, mostly because there were too many witnesses around.

Nico's emotions were driving him crazy. He felt so torn. His strong, squirmy, uncomfortable, yet pleasurable feelings he had for Katie were pulling him one way. Yet, her still being involved with Pollux and his hesitation to tell her the way he feels, pulled him another way. He felt that he had to let his feelings out, or he would burst.

One day, after seeing Katie reluctantly hold Pollux's hand and walk with him towards the training arena, Nico thought he'd lose it. He HAD to release his feelings, some way. He had to, or else he would be sure to explode.

He felt his feet running below him. He tried not to look at Katie and Pollux walking away. He ran all the way to his cabin, not turning back once. He couldn't stand it anymore. What was wrong with him lately?

Once he got to the cabin, he slammed the door behind him. He released a groan of frustration and banged his closed fists against a wall.

He didn't bother to worry about the pain now running through his hands. Instead, threw himself on his bunk and stared up at the ceiling. What in the name of the gods was wrong with his emotions? Why did love tend to confuse a man so much? He had never felt this angry at ANYONE, not even as angry as he felt at Percy, when he blamed him for Bianca's death. Now, he truly wished Pollux would burn up in some dark place in the Underworld.

Nico sat there on his bunk, breathing deeply, trying to calm the intense beating of his heart. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind completely. He WASN'T going to think about Katie; that would just bring him back to the topic of Pollux. No, he attempted to clear his mind and think of nothing at all.

When he opened his eyes, his heart now beating like normal and his mind cleared, he reached underneath his bunk for a small black journal.

Bianca had given this journal to Nico when he was about nine years old. He had never written in it, never having anything to say, but he had kept it over the years as his only memory, besides the little Hades figurine, of his sister.

Nico opened the book, blank pages starring back at him. He thought for a while, then reached for a pen in a drawer by his bedside.

He uncapped the pen and closed his eyes again. He had to collect his thoughts. Slowly, he released a sigh. Yes, he had to organize his thoughts about Katie, but… how?

He attempted to fill his mind with thoughts of Katie, and ONLY Katie, not Pollux, the simpleminded disturbance.

The first thing that came to him was her laugh. Her laugh seemed to pierce his thoughts, ringing in his ears, making him smile slightly.

He continued to think. The next thing that made its way in his mind was the way she talked: smoothly and soothingly. Nico felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising at the sound of her voice in his head.

And now, all the things about Katie just came flooding to him all in one big rush, like a wave splashing him awake. Her brown hair, long and wavy like a waterfall down her back. Her smile, sweet, tender and accepting. The way she sometimes wore her hair up with a flower through it. Her cheeks, pink and slightly tinged with sun. Her eyes, brown and warm, and how they sparkled faintly when she looked at him. The way she cared so much for plants and agriculture, things a Demeter girl SHOULD care about. And the way she always seemed to accept people and listen to them, not caring about stereotypes or who they were.

Nico opened his eyes to find himself smiling. He had almost completely forgotten his anger at Pollux. In fact, at that moment, the name Pollux was completely unknown to his vocabulary.

Slowly, he sat up. He rested the open journal on his bedside table and scooted to the edge of the bed so he was able to write in it while sitting down. He rested the pen on the top of the page, and let the words flow out of himself and onto the paper.

He began to write the title:

_Confessions to Katie Gardner_

"Hmm…," he said, pondering the title. It didn't sound that bad.

He kept writing.

_Dear Katie,_

_I love your laugh. It makes me think of bells. Your voice is magnificent, too. Simply intoxicating. _

_Your scent makes me think of flowers and agriculture. Well, I expect nothing less from a daughter of Demeter. _

_The way your eyes seem to peer right through me and see everything, even things that I'm hiding, makes my knees buckle slightly under me._

_And your smile… the way it seems to accept everything, even the bitter truth._

_In fact, I love everything about you, Katie. I can't find one fault in you._

_Well, except for the fact that you are dating Pollux. What's so great about him? Give me ONE reason why he's worth putting up with everyday. I see the way you are confused and tortured inside. Is HE the cause of all that? Is he the reason for all of this internal torment? Then tell me, why are you still with him? He doesn't make you happy, I can see it in your eyes. You're torturing _yourself, _Katie. The only person you are hurting by continuing this relationship is YOURSELF._

_And me, of course. But this isn't about me. It's about you. I only want what makes you happy, and clearly that terd is NOT the answer._

Nico stopped writing, feeling his intense desire to hurt someone subside. He felt a lot better now. The words he had written just flowed onto the page from his heart. He didn't really think about it. Once he had written the first word, he couldn't stop.

He allowed himself to release a sigh. He slowly closed the journal, tucking it back under his bed and capping the pen, putting it in the drawer by his bedside.

He leaned back against the bed, sighing and closing his eyes.

These were his confessions to Katie, alright. Confessions she would NEVER hear.

* * *

Nico had fallen asleep sometime after he had written in the journal, without noticing. Maybe a day full of such confusing emotions had drained all of his energy.

Gradually, he got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked down at the watch on his wrist. It was only ten fifty-five. Wait… TEN FIFTY-FIVE?!

Nico shot up from his bed. He hurried to his chest and pulled out a fresh camp shirt and a pair of pants. He quickly changed. He had slept through breakfast AND the first morning activities! He had to hurry and get back into the flow of the camp's routine.

He ran out of the door of his cabin and out into the camp, before he saw someone, a girl by the look of the length of its hair, heading in his direction.

For a second, Nico feared it was Katie, then the person showed to have blonde hair….

His friend Annabeth was approaching him at a run.

"Nico!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of him. "Where were you? You weren't at breakfast, OR at archery practice! Percy and I started looking for you. Percy is looking in the forest, we have to tell him we found you!"

Nico nodded half-heartedly. "Ok…," he said, looking down at the ground, still alittle shaken by his rude awakening.

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows together. "Nico? Are you ok?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't really know anymore," he said, his eyes never leaving the ground.

"What is it?" she asked, genuinely concerned. "What happened?"

Nico looked up for the first time. "I-I don't really know," he said, then kept going. "It's just that… I feel so, so CONFUSED. I have never even felt half of the emotions I'm feeling right now. I can't stand it! It's too much for me to handle! But… I," he struggled to find the right words, "I still don't want these feelings to leave."

Annabeth looked at him, a slight smile on her lips. "Katie Love getting to you?"

"YES!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I mean, I really, REALLY like her, Annabeth. It's just… Pollux and… and I can't, I can't tell her ANY of the things I feel for her! I couldn't even do it if Pollux WASN'T a problem! I just… ARGH!" He released a shout of frustration and confusion.

Annabeth looked up at him, a look of almost pity on her face. "Confusing, isn't it?"

"Yes," Nico groaned. "What do I do? I mean, I wrote this journal thing, and it helps me control my emotions and get them out, but I hardly think that'll help--"

Annabeth suddenly looked up sharply. "What? You wrote a journal?"

Nico blushed and nearly slapped himself for letting that slip. "Um, no, nothing. Really, it's nothing."

Annabeth gave him a half-amused and half-stern look. "Nico… what is it? What'd you write?"

Nico looked down and blushed as he confessed, "I-I wrote a journal, actually, I AM writing a journal. It's… kind of like my confessions to Katie. Since I can't tell her, I write them down. Or else… or else I might explode with all of these stupid emotions."

When he looked up, Annabeth was giving him a grin. "Aw! Nico, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard someone do for another person! That's so thoughtful!" Nico blushed an even deeper shade of scarlet as she kept going. "Are you going to give it to her or tell her atleast?"

Nico looked up sharply, feeling panic rise inside of him. "NO! That's like signing a death warrant!"

Annabeth pleaded, "Oh, come on! How do you expect to win her over if you don't tell her?"

"I don't know, ok?!" he said, feeling completely hopeless. "I guess she'll never know. Besides, Pollux is STILL a problem!"

Suddenly, Percy appeared out of nowhere, panting. He looked like he had run all the way over there.

"There you are! Annabeth thought you might have been sulking in your cabin, for what, I don't know, but atleast we found you!"

Nico gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, great."

Nico walked off to the training arena by himself, leaving Annabeth and Percy behind him.

"What's wrong with Nico?" Percy asked confusedly, once Nico was out of their sight.

"Nico's just… confused is all," she replied simply, then smiled slyly. "And I know just how to fix it." And without explaining what she said, she took Percy's hand in her's and steered him away from where they stood. "Come on," she said, leaving Percy utterly confused to follow behind her. "We better get back to the training grounds."

* * *

Over the days, Nico found himself writing in the journal more and more often. Every time he felt any sort of feeling towards Katie, or noticed something new about her, he wrote it down.

Like his newest entry:

_Dear Katie,_

_Today I have just discovered that you have a strong, and not to mention a dangerous side in you. I mean, I knew you don't like Connor and Travis, but… well, you basically exploded today._

_When I saw Connor and Travis coming out from behind the Demeter cabin with a bottle of maple syrup in their hands this morning, crackling madly, I knew they had done something bad. Something that would probably tick the Demeter counselor, AKA: You, off._

_And if they did that, I knew they were probably in for trouble._

_Again, I knew you'd yell at them or something, but I didn't know you go as far as you did! It surprised me… ALOT._

_Anyway, after they ran away, an ear-splitting shriek came out of the Demeter cabin, no surprise there._

_When you and the other campers in the cabin walked out, half soaked in syrup, I was torn between laughing and ripping the twins to shreds. By the way, I find you no less pretty covered head-to-toe in maple syrup._

_Then, all Hades was released, and _I _wasn't the one who did it._

_Your face was burning, but not in the embarrassed way, more in the completely angry way._

_You walked right up to the twins, who were snickering madly behind a bush, (I still don't know how you knew where they were) and began to yell. VERY LOUDLY. Since I was in my cabin, observing out the window, I only heard a few things that you said. Most of which I'm not going to put in this journal, because that's not really language I want to dirty the journal's pages with. _

_Then, you literally beat the stuffing out of the two. I almost felt SORRY for them. After that, you found it necessary to take what was left of the maple syrup inside of the bottle they had with them, and dump it on the two's sorry heads._

_Boy, how I would have been out there by your side, backing you up. That... or pulling you away from doing any permanent damage to them._

_And WHERE was precious Pollux at this time? Oh wait, that's right: He WASN'T there! Now, what kind of a boyfriend wouldn't be there, atleast to pull you away?_

_And let me ask you something else: Do you react that way to their pranks very often? If you do, then why do they still mess with you? These are the questions I require the answers to…._

_Strangely enough, I was almost… _attracted_ to your irritated behavior with the twins. It showed that you were strong, and not to be messed with. I just hope I'M not the one to make you angry in the future… that would be the end of me._

Nico sighed when he finished reading over the entry. Writing it all down if he couldn't say it REALLY did make him feel better. It was almost like telling the _real_ Katie. It felt comforting.

But, Nico knew he could probably never say those things to Katie's face. She made him so… so nervous. He knew he'd never have the courage to actually say all the things he said in the journal to her. What if she laughed? What if she didn't return the feelings?

Nico leaned back onto his bunk, wondering why things had to be so complicated.

Then he remembered Pollux and his quest. He smiled to himself, remembering a quote.

"All's fair in love and war," he said to himself, grinning. "Sweet dreams, Pollux. The war will start soon."

* * *

The next day, Annabeth headed to the Hades cabin.

Nico wanted her to help him break Katie and Pollux up, but he was too stubborn to do what she said. She would have to go in and find what she wanted herself.

Annabeth peaked her head by the window in the cabin: There seemed to be no one there.

She sneakily made her way inside the cabin. The door was unlocked, so it wasn't that hard.

She headed toward Nico's bunk, the only one that looked like anyone had slept in it.

"Now, if I were a journal, where would I hide?" Annabeth said to herself, headed towards his chest, searching frantically for a journal or book of any kind.

Annabeth nearly tore the whole room down, looking around like a madwoman for a journal. She had looked nearly everywhere when she made her way towards his bed.

She quickly threw his pillow behind her, searching desperately.

"Oh, so he WASN'T lying when he said he kept a teddy bear under his pillow," she said, turning the stuffed animal over in her hands.

After she set it back down, she continued to search. Then, the last place, and probably most obvious, where the journal could be hidden came to her: Under the bed.

Since the dawn of time, people had been hiding things under their beds. How come she hadn't thought of it before? Some daughter of Athena she was….

Annabeth looked under the bed and saw a small, black journal.

"Aha!" she exclaimed to herself, pulling the book out from under the bed.

She looked at it. It was a plain and simple book. Alittle musty with age, but still a very plain book. There was no title on the cover. There was no design, no spine on the book. A simple little journal.

When Annabeth opened the book, she found that the pages didn't have lines; they were just plain white pages, alittle yellow because of age.

Annabeth flipped through the book, reading every single one of Nico's "confessions" to Katie, as she could see they were called from the first page. After every entry, Annabeth found herself awing at how poetic and sensitive Nico could be when it came to Katie.

After she was done reading what Nico had written inside the book, she smiled to herself and said in triumph, "Well, you wanted me to help you, Nico, so I am. But these confessions might not be hidden from Katie anymore."


	5. Mysterious Letters from No One

_Author's Note: _Hello, everyone! I'm back!

Ok, well, here's the next chapter of Seeing Katie, and I'm so glad that all of you like this story! You're making me blush with all of these reviews! But, don't stop reviewing! I LOVE the reviews, almost as much as all of you love this story!

Anyway, enjoy! By the way, all of you _do_ know that Katie Gardner _is _a real character from Percy Jackson, not just some OC that popped into my imagination, right? Just making sure. :)

Read on!

-Scars

* * *

Chapter 5:

Mysterious Letters from No One

Katie was sitting by the archery practice field, her head propped up on her hand. She was sitting on the wooden bleachers that were built by the archery field, so, whenever there was an archery event, the whole camp could sit and watch. The bleachers were about ten feet off of the ground and Katie was sitting on the very top row. There were about three fields, each one filled with targets and everything someone needed to practice archery with, not to mention things to _hurt _themselves with if they didn't use the equipment correctly.

Katie was waiting patiently for her best friend to finish her archery practice so that they could both head out to the pavilion for dinner. Since her friend was a daughter of Apollo, she liked to take _extra_ time for practice so she could perfect her aim.

"Marissa!" Katie called down to the field, her friend being the _only_ one left on the first field. "Are you done yet?"

Marissa looked up from where she stood in position, ready to release her arrow. She sighed slightly and looked up at where Katie was sitting.

"No, not yet." Marissa went back to her position, aiming with one eye shut a little bit. "Hey, Katie," she began as she attempted to put her arrow in the absolute perfect location before she let go of it, "would you mind _not_ interrupting my concentration? That way, I'll be done quicker."

"Sorry, Marissa," Katie threw back, rolling her eyes and smiling a little in spite of herself. "I forgot you were in the _zone."_

She heard Marissa chuckle vaguely from the bottom, and after that the quiet seemed to swallow them both, the only sound coming from the second field, where Marissa's two brothers were _supposed_ to be practicing on their archery. Instead, they were both chasing each other out of the grounds to the pavilion for dinner with a pair of arrows, laughing like idiots.

"Immature Imbeciles…," Marissa muttered from her position, straightening her arm to get her aim just right.

Katie just sunk back into her seat on the bleachers, her ears listening to the two boys' fading laughter, while her mind was traveling, thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.

What would she do about Pollux? The boy _never_ left her alone these days! Only at the times where she actually needed the stubborn son of Dionysus was he _not_ by her side. He was becoming clingy and fidgety at odd and unexpected times, driving her absolutely nuts.

Then… there was… there was that one…. No. Katie refused to let herself think of the _other _male that seemed to be invading her thoughts. The dark haired boy who just so happened to be only a year younger than herself. The one who's eyes lit up with mischief… the one with the magical smile… the boy in the Hades cabin….

Katie shook her head, attempting to rid herself of all of her thoughts and went back to trying watching Marissa practice.

Marissa blew the strand of hair that hung in her face, hoping it would move from her line of vision. She pulled her arm a tad back and then let go. The only sound that they could hear was the whizzing of the arrow as it left her hand and landed on the target. It landed just above the bull's eye; it missed it by nearly an inch.

Marissa cursed under her breath, but the fields were now so quiet, that Katie could hear her. She had been trying for the past half-hour to make a perfect bull's eye.

Katie laughed faintly to herself. Oh… Marissa.

The two had been best friends since the third grade and had discovered that they were both half-bloods together in the sixth grade. Katie had always been a shy, dark brown haired girl, tending to blend in better, while Marissa was a bright and cheerful red headed girl, and was more outgoing and dedicated. Marissa had noticed Katie when she seemed invisible at their school, back when Katie was a new student. They both brought out the best in each other.

And, there was one thing Katie _knew_ about Marissa: She _never_ gave up on anything.

"Don't worry, I'm _definetly_ going to get it this time," Marissa said, sensing Katie's smirks and unsaid 'I-told-you-so's, nearly smiling herself. Katie had been trying to convince her that she _couldn't_ make a bull's eye because of the wind that was blowing, and that they should go down to dinner already. She would show her… that daughter of Demeter and her knowledge of nature….

Marissa lined up her bow, measuring the wind in her mind and trying to get it in near-perfect alignment, to have Katie eat her words. Slowly, but surely, she released the arrow.

It landed with a loud twang, right smack in the middle of the target.

"AH-HA!" Marissa exclaimed, suddenly jumping up and down once in place. "I TOLD you I could do it!"

Katie scoffed and crossed her arms stubbornly, but grinned. "Big deal," she went on. "All you did was measure the wind's strength, the way it was blowing and position your arrow right were the wind would carry it ever so slightly, so it would land in the middle. No biggie."

Marissa looked up at the bleachers and stuck her tongue out at Katie. "You're just mad because _I_ did it, when you said I couldn't."

Katie's grin grew wider as she stepped down the bleachers two a time to get to the ground. "I didn't say you couldn't, I said the wind would make it difficult to make it."

"That's basically telling me I couldn't do it, if you ask me." Marissa smiled at Katie, Katie reaching the bottom quicker now.

Katie looked at her, grinning in triumph, and said, "But, that's just the thing: I _didn't_ ask you. So… _your _opinion on the matter doesn't mean a thing to me."

Marissa grimaced in defeat as Katie laughed at her friend's expression. "Oh, shut up. Just come down here already."

Katie waved her hand as if waving the matter aside. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." When her feet finally reached the ground, Katie grabbed her friend's arm. "Come on, let me help you pick up all these arrows you used trying to _make_ that stupid bull's eye."

Both of the girls set off around the field, picking up the countless scattered arrows Marissa had used.

Once they had collected the seeming to be never ending stock of arrows and stuck them into Marissa's enchanted arrow holder, Marissa slung the magical bag onto her back and grabbed Katie's arm.

"Let's go. Now we can finally have that dinner we've been waiting for."

Katie jeered at her. "You mean the dinner you _made_ _me_ wait for?"

Marissa poked Katie in the rib with her elbow. "Hey, you know better than anyone that when someone tells me I can't do something, I'll _show _them that I can, so you brought this upon _yourself."_

Right then, Katie opened her mouth to respond, when suddenly, the two girls heard a loud and familiar TWANG! Katie had hung around the archery field long enough to know what that sound was, and Marissa knew the sound by heart like any child of Apollo would: The hitting of an arrow to a target.

Both girls whipped around, Marissa's red medium-length hair that went only a little bit past her shoulders flying around her face and nearly hitting Katie in the face with her fiery locks. There it was: An arrow. It had hit the same target Marissa had just been practicing on. And, attached to the arrowed seemed to be a little note….

Marissa was the first to react. She immediately let go of Katie's arm, threw her bag of arrows to the ground lightly and ran toward the arrow.

Katie followed her as Marissa began to untie the note that was connected by a small string to the arrow.

"Why would someone shoot this here _right now?_" Marissa asked in wonder.

Katie shrugged, just as confused as she was. "Maybe it was your brothers," she suggested, knowing how much Marissa's older and younger brothers liked to prank their sister and fool with her like this.

As if the tiny note held the answer to her question, Marissa began to open the note with hungry eyes.

Katie attempted to peep over her shoulder and see what the little roll of paper held, but suddenly, Marissa turned to her, her eyes wide.

"It says, 'For Katie Gardner,'" she said, staring at Katie as if searching for an explanation.

Dumbfounded, Katie took the paper from her best friend and read over the first fold carefully.

She was right. There, written in neat print, was her name.

Katie unfolded the small sheet of paper, only to see more writing. Katie read on, completely perplexed, with Marissa reading the paper eagerly over her shoulder.

It read:

_Dear Katie,_

_I love your laugh. It makes me think of bells. Your voice is magnificent, too. Simply intoxicating. _

Katie blushed when she read this. Was this some sick joke? Who wrote this anyway?

_Your scent makes me think of flowers and agriculture. Well, I expect nothing less from a daughter of Demeter. _

Katie smiled as her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

_The way your eyes seem to peer right through me and see everything, even things that I'm hiding, makes my knees buckle slightly under me._

Wow. Who was it that Katie made feel this way? Who's head had she gotten into so much that she made his knees buckle?

_And your smile… the way it seems to accept everything, even the bitter truth._

Katie didn't think she could get any redder. Marissa didn't say a word from where she read it, which worried Katie slightly. Her best friend in the world… not even making comments about this? Something wasn't right…

But, Katie kept reading:

_In fact, I love everything about you, Katie. I can't find one fault in you._

Ok, Katie _had_ to know who had written this. It could possibly be Pollux; he was NEVER this poetic. Then… who was it?

_Well, except for the fact that you are dating Pollux. What's so great about him? Give me ONE reason why he's worth putting up with everyday. I see the way you are confused and tortured inside. Is HE the cause of all that? Is he the reason for all of this internal torment? Then tell me, why are you still with him? He doesn't make you happy, I can see it in your eyes. You're torturing _yourself, _Katie. The only person you are hurting by continuing this relationship is YOURSELF._

_And me, of course. But this isn't about me. It's about you. I only want what makes you happy, and clearly that terd is NOT the answer._

Ok, this definetly _wasn't_ Pollux. But… the odd thing was… all those things this person had said about Pollux where true in her heart. But… she never really let herself admit these things. She didn't know _why_ she was dating Pollux, and, now, whenever she thought of his name or his company, she almost felt a sick taste in her mouth, as if she'd just taken disgusting medicine. She had no idea _why_ she put up with him anymore. I mean… she _used_ to like him, but that was the past. She had never let herself believe that the spark she once had with Pollux was gone, and that… she wasn't interested anymore.

But… how did this person know all that? How did he know that she felt tortured and torn inside? No one else seemed to notice how she felt on this subject… so how did this person know?

And _why_ did this mysterious writer care about her so much?! Who was he? And… how did he know all of this?

The signature was only, _'A Silent Admirer,'_ which didn't say much. Who was this person, who, surprisingly, helped Katie admit the truth about the lie she was letting herself believe? Plus… this person had straightforwardly called her pretty and intoxicating, which would make any girl blush and want to try to find this letter's true author.

That was the only question that bothered her: Who is this person, and why did they send this letter?

From behind her, Marissa's only words for the note were, "Wow. Who would have the guts to say all that to you, even if it is over a letter?"

"I… don't know," Katie said, almost feeling her heart soar at the idea of there being an actual human being out there who found everything she did and everything about her to be wonderful.

"Oh yeah… so what where you going to do about Pollux?" Marissa further asked, taking the note from Katie's shaky hands to further examine it.

Katie had, naturally, told her best friend about all of the things that were going on between her and Pollux: The confusion… the uncertainty… all of the turmoil that invaded her happy and supposedly relaxing summer.

"I _really_ don't know about him," Katie said, closing her eyes and sighing. "It's just that… I _want_ to break up with him, cause I just don't feel anything between us anymore! But… Oh My Gods, it's just so confusing." Katie slunk down and sat on the bottom bleacher, burying her throbbing head in between her knees.

Marissa sat beside her, rubbing her best friend's back and hugging her, attempting to give her even the tiniest amount of comfort.

"Well… maybe one thing will cheer you up: you've got a secret admirer now. One that said he loved your laugh."

Katie smiled from Marissa's shoulder, and, for some odd reason, found herself thinking about the only occupant in the Hades cabin who she had become closer to over that last couple of weeks.

* * *

Annabeth Chase smiled from where she sat, behind a bush by the archery practice grounds, a bow in hand but no arrow.

Katie had gotten the note. Annabeth saw the way she blushed when she read the letter and read it as if it were a lifeline… almost like she was… _considering_ all that Nico had written about her. Of course, his identity remained a secret, but it was still good enough for her.

Annabeth scoffed to herself.

"And Nico said this would work…."

She grinned and turned around, running away from the archery field and off to dinner.

* * *

When Katie had calmed down enough for them to head to dinner, both girls walked side by side, talking about _anything_ but Pollux.

Katie laughed at all Marissa's jokes and attempts to make her friend feel more at ease.

Yes, Katie had told Marissa about Pollux. But… there was _one_ thing she hadn't told her about: Her confusing, yet pleasing feelings for Nico Di Angelo. So… her feelings for this boy were kept to herself, pushed beneath her heart somewhere.

When they got to the pavilion, a little late, as usual, they both parted to sit at their cabins tables.

Katie barely ate a thing. She just sat down, moving her mashed potatoes around with her spoon, her mind going a hundred miles an hour.

Katie blush at the mere thought of the note. That's just how heart-warming and sincere it was.

Who was this 'Silent Admirer'? What did he want? Did he mean all the things that he said?

If he did, then Katie had a possible distraction from Pollux on her hands. Maybe _that_ wouldn't be so bad, after all….

She was so distracted thinking about the note she had received, that she didn't notice Annabeth grinning victoriously from the Athena table, and Nico, sitting at the Hades table alone, staring at Katie like a hopeless puppy, still ignorantly believing that his feelings for her were still a secret.

"What's wrong, Katie?" one of her half sisters from the Demeter cabin, Jessica, that was seated right next to her asked her, sensing that Katie hadn't touched her food and was looking rather red around the cheeks.

Katie blushed an even deeper shade of red, looking down, feeling embarrassed that someone caught her blushing at nothing in particular. "Nothing…," she muttered, trying to catch herself.

From the Apollo table, Marissa leaned towards the two Demeter sisters sitting together and muttered, "Oh, don't mind Katie. It's just her secret admirer."

Katie blushed deeper at the mention of the person who sent the sweet note she had received, as Marissa smiled at her and turned back to the Apollo table, almost like saying, "_Your welcome."_

"Is that true, Katie?" Jessica asked with genuine interest. "You have a secret admirer?"

Katie stared at her shoes and mumbled, "Well, sort of. It's… a little confusing, like the rest of my life." She muttered the last part, more to herself then to Jessica.

Jessica just nodded with interest and went back to cutting her meat and chewing.

But, there was _one_ other person who had heard what Marissa had said, besides Jessica and Katie.

And that person was Nico Di Angelo.

Nico sunk in the bench of his table, feeling suddenly miserable and hopeless all over again.

Katie had a secret admirer? Someone besides himself had noticed her loveliness and wonderful way of being, and had beaten him to telling her how he felt and taking her from the torture that went by the name of Pollux?

Now, he felt truly alone and hopeless. His quest for her heart was useless, and now, it didn't even matter anymore.

Nico felt like someone had just slapped him across the face. How could there have been another guy _already?_

He was now ready to hang up his overalls and give up on love entirely.

* * *

_Author's Other Note: _Well, we've sadly reached the end of this chapter. Now, I know it seems that Nico's given up on Katie and all forms of love, but, he will soon be out of this slump, discovering in one of the later chapters that _he_ is the secret admirer (and, not to mention, be angry at Annabeth, too). Not only that, but Katie will find time to bond with Nico in person, too. So, this _isn't_ the end of the adventure! I can assure you of that!


	6. Bonding with Death

_**Urgent**__ Author's Note: _Ok, Seeing Katie readers. This next chapter is ready to be posted and complete. Except for one crucial piece of information that I _need_ for this chapter, and that is, the ratings that they give cabins when they inspect them. It might seem unimportant, but I need to know this to have all of my information be genuine, and the only books I remember cabin inspection being in are the _Last Olympian_ and the _Battle of the Labyrinth_, both of which I allowed my friend to borrow. So, here's the next chapter, but I just put it a number that I _thought _would be a number for the cabin inspections. If you know what the ratings and numbers are, please let me know! Sorry for the long author's note, please enjoy the update!

-Scars

* * *

Chapter 6:

Bonding with Death

Nico stomped back to his cabin. His grief and hopelessness from finding out that Katie had a secret admirer was soon replaced by anger.

Why had he been so stupid?! Katie was… lovely. It wouldn't take long for someone to notice this girl and sweep her away from her horrible boyfriend, just like _he_ had been planning on doing.

He had been arrogant to think that she would _only_ be his. He hadn't acted soon enough, so he had lost his chance completely now.

When he made it to his familiar black stone cabin, he marched right in, closing the door behind him. He strode over to his bed, but before he could even do anything, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, still flustered and distracted.

The door swung open, and in stepped Annabeth and her younger brother, Malcolm. Annabeth was clutching a clipboard in her hand, looking around the cabin closely.

"Cabin inspection," Malcolm explained at Nico's distracted and partially angry gaze. "This'll only take a second," he reassured him.

"Right… cabin inspection," Nico muttered, standing by his bunk as he waited for the two siblings to finish examining the cabin.

As Malcolm looked for any sign of mess in the room, Annabeth peered at Nico. He looked sidetracked enough….

She made her way to Nico's bunk. He stood with his back facing the bed, so he couldn't see her. Now was her chance.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm shouted faintly from the other side of the cabin. "Everything seems to be fine over here. I'll go check the bathroom."

"Okay, Malcolm," she replied, looking at her clipboard absentmindedly. "But, hurry up! We've got four cabins left to check."

Annabeth slid slyly closer to Nico's bunk and shifted her clipboard slightly to the side. There, beneath the wooden board, was Nico's black journal. She put it in her right hand as she held the clipboard with her left. Slowly, she tossed the journal softly on the ground, so it barely made a sound. Annabeth looked around the cabin to be sure that neither Nico nor Malcolm were watching her before placing her foot gently on top of the little book and moving it under Nico's bed, where she had first found it.

Annabeth heaved a deep sigh. Finally, she had put the journal back. Nico had not noticed that it had been missing for the past two days, Thank the Gods, but carrying it around or having it at all felt like a burden to her. Almost like she was hiding something, holding the journal in her possession. She didn't need it anymore, since she had copied enough entries from the journal to send Katie a letter everyday for about a week. Besides, when the week was through, Annabeth would need more material to send Katie.

She turned back to her clipboard and went back to work, now that the journal was back where it was supposed to be.

"Ok, everything seems to be in order here," Annabeth said, scanning the room with her eyes, moving away from Nico's bed, and hurriedly made some notes on the clipboard.

Nico looked up at her from the side of his bunk for a second, his eyes hollow and empty, as if hopelessly disheartened and looking to her for answers and help. Annabeth feared for a second that he had noticed his journal's absence and knew what she was doing, but was determined to keep cool, just in case he _didn't _yet know.

She smiled at him, attempting to cover up any panic she had revealed, even if it was only for a split second. "Well, it shouldn't be so hard to keep your cabin clean, when you're the only one in here."

Nico laughed dryly, returning only an empty smile that meant nothing more than a grimace. He suddenly thought of Katie, all of her siblings, and how much fun they all seemed to have. He felt a pang of emptiness inside, being the sole in habitant of the cabin. He wished he had at least one sibling… or, that Bianca was still alive. Then he'd have someone to talk to about… well, about pretty much everything.

"Yeah… I'm the _only_ one here," he replied, his voice filled with blankness and slight irritation.

"Malcolm!" Annabeth shouted after her younger brother. "Did you find anything?"

"No!" he yelled back. He stepped out of the other side of the cabin and declared, "I think it's safe to say that we can give this cabin a six."

"Alright then," she muttered, writing down Nico's cabin inspection results on the wooden clipboard in her hand. "A six… that's a first for you… not that bad for a Hades boy…."

Nico barely attempted to muster a weak smile at this odd praise.

"Ok, well we better get to the other cabins. Chiron will be expecting these cabin results to be turned in soon," Annabeth continued, making her way to the door with Malcolm just ahead of her.

When Malcolm stepped out and stood at the steps of the black stone cabin, Annabeth turned around and stated, but not loud enough that Malcolm would hear, "Oh… and, Nico?"

He looked up only slightly and nodded to show that he was listening.

"I wouldn't worry about those bumps in the road that you're having with Katie; I have a feeling they'll be worked out soon enough."

And then she left, without another word, leaving Nico to stand there, wondering what she meant by that.

* * *

After Annabeth and Malcolm had gone to inspect the other cabins, Nico hurriedly grabbed the journal under his bad and wrote a quick entry about his feelings for this "secret admirer" of Katie's.

He wrote fast, barely able to contain his still blistering rage.

His entry read:

_Katie,_

_So… I see you have a "secret admirer." Well, that's just great. Really. I'm happy someone _finally _noticed you, like they all should have earlier, and had the guts to admit their feelings for you, even if they _didn't_ reveal their name._

_But, I only wish that person could have been me. I know… I was arrogant and _idiotic_ to think… to think that your heart was only meant to be mine. Someone else, someone who has more guts than me, could easily sweep you off your feet and away from me. And they did. So… maybe it wasn't meant to be._

_Katie… I just want to know one thing: If you didn't have a secret admirer or if I have acted sooner, is it even remotely possible that you could have fallen for me? _

_I feel so angry at myself for not having at least talked to you more, or told you something. If I could go back and do it all over, I would, believe me. As long as I'd have at least a small chance to actually win your heart. _

_Now, all of that is gone. And, I'd like to inform you, that I feel depressed and angry. I think I'll begin to write dark poetry in here, since these letters are probably useless now. But I'm not too sure, since all this writing really helps me control my emotions._

_The only bright side of all of this? Pollux will hopefully be removed from your life now. But the down side is… maybe I will be too._

* * *

After Nico had completed his entry and was done cursing his stupidity, he went outside. He needed time alone. He didn't want to think about _anything_ right now.

He was walking by the forest, his eyes on the ground, kicking a pebble along with him and grumbling under his breath with his fists shoved into his pockets. The only thing he gave his attention was the forest floor beneath his feet. He refused to think of anything, even though his mind was full of thoughts, all screaming for attention.

Nico walked into the vast tree-covered area, seeming like he was strolling through a maze, having to change his path every now and then to avoid running into a tree.

The shadows in the woods clung to him, as they all usually did, all of them seemed to whisper in Nico's ears. He merely swept his hands around his ears in attempt to brush away the spirits and shadows from murmuring to him. Now was not the time for a conversation with the dead.

Instead of stopping and paying them _any_ attention whatsoever, Nico continued to walked, outwardly unaffected by their presence. He weaved his way through the forest, the only sound that surrounded his was the sounds of the forest and his own breathing. He enjoyed his moment of solitude, just himself and the woods. Now, he could finally relax and unwind like he had never had before.

After walking for a while, the silence almost becoming a part of him now, Nico suddenly heard a disturbance in the quiet forest. Someone seemed to be calling him.

"Nico! Nico, is that you?"

Nico whipped around, seeing the one figure he didn't really want to see or think about right this instant: Katie.

She was running toward him, her legs interlacing through the forest and the trees. Her hair was in a ponytail, just as it had been at dinner last night. She was honestly the _last_ person he had expected to see there, just when he was looking for time alone.

"Hey, Nico," she said when she finally reached him, breathless from her run. She stopped to catch her breath, then said, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

Nico looked up, a little surprised. Didn't she have a secret admirer already? Why was she looking for him?

"Really?" he voiced out loud.

Katie only nodded, then looked at him in concern. "Yeah. You looked pretty upset when you left dinner yesterday, and I didn't get a chance to talk to you at all."

"Oh, it was nothing, really," Nico scrambled, attempting to catch himself and make her unwary. "It… must have been something I ate."

Katie smiled and shook her head uncertainly, having experience using _that_ old excuse to avoid a problem. "Really, Nico, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing's wrong," he said again, surprised she had seen through his fake excuse. "I just left early, that's all."

Katie narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but didn't ask any further questions.

Nico kept walking deeper in the forest, turning his back on Katie to walk into the woods. But, unexpectedly, she was close on his heels, following him in the wooded area.

"So," she started off, now right at his side, shifting uncomfortably. "It's been a while since we talked, Nico."

"Yeah," he said, "what has it been… a couple of weeks, right?"

"Yes, about over a week, Nico," Katie said, grinning a little bit. "It's good to talk again."

"The same to you," Nico said, a little uncertain. He still kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to look at her. Now that she had a secret admirer, she was _beyond_ his reach. It was bad before when it was _just_ Pollux, but now there was another guy. But still… he couldn't lie that he enjoyed talking to her. Even if there _was_ no chance he could win her heart.

"Glad I finally found you," she said with a smile, making Nico's heart skip a beat. Why did that simple statement make a blush rise to his cheeks? "This way, we _can_ talk again. Now, what are you doing out here?" she inquired.

"Oh, just… walking around. Nothing much, I guess," he scrambled, unsure of what to say. "Thinking."

His fists that were once tightly jammed into his pockets loosened a bit at the sound of Katie's musical voice.

"Yeah, you seem to do a lot of that. Well, you know why I'm here… looking for you." Katie fumbled with the edge of her orange camp t-shirt, staring at the ground just as Nico was.

They both walked in silence for a while, the wood nymphs whispering and giggling around them.

Nico shook his head. He always disliked this part of the forest. The nymphs always giggled and chatted quietly, but in the hushed woods, it was enough to fill his ears and drive him insane.

"Nico," Katie suddenly spoke up, looking up at him, "so… how have you been lately?" She knew it sounded cliché, but Katie _still_ suspected that there was something wrong with Nico, and expected t get it out of him sooner or later. But, of course, she was starting with casual questions to get him to open up a little more to her.

"Me?" he asked, still a bit doubtful about her question. When she just grinned and nodded, Nico kept going. "Well, you know… the surprises of life can be pretty harsh on a person."

"What do you mean?" Katie asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Nico shrugged. "You know that sinking feeling you get when you discover something awful?"

She nodded, looking at him with her brown eyes full of concern.

"I am a victim of that feeling," he said, sighing. "I guess everything happens for a reason, right?"

"Nico, I get what you're saying," Katie said, her eyes never leaving his face, "but… do you think you could be a little more specific?"

Nico turned away and suddenly stopped walking. Katie stopped abruptly too when Nico stopped walking. She stood right next to him, searching in his face for an answer. Nico just stood there, breathing hard, attempting not to get angry at the thought of losing Katie. He stared at the ground and refused to meet her eyes.

"What's the matter, Nico?" Katie asked, suddenly grabbing his right arm and clinging on to it, desperate to know what was wrong. "Please tell me."

He stopped, a warm tingle going up his arm at Katie's touch. His eyes became wide when he realized just how close to him she was standing. Nico swallowed and still didn't look her way.

Remembering her secret admirer and _Pollux_, Nico gently took Katie's hand off of his right arm, and said, "Katie… I really don't want to talk about this right now."

He was surprised when, even though he had moved her hand off of his arm, she still kept her hand in his. Surprised as he was, he didn't fight it. Butterflies stirred in his stomach, but he didn't give in and look at her.

"I-I'm sorry if I touched a sensitive subject," she said, "but… why don't we forget about that now and just talk?"

Nico couldn't stand it anymore. He turned and looked at her. His eyes went from angry and dark to soft and forgiving when he met her eyes. He released her hand and look back at the ground.

"Ok," he said, "sounds like a plan."

Katie smiled a little bit and brought her hands back down to her sides. "Good. Well… let's keep walking, shall we?"

Nico gave a small grin. "Yeah, let's go."

The two kept walking, but this time they walked backwards, since they had reached the part of the forest where there tended to be a lot of creatures that yearned to take a bite out of a half-blood. The creatures that were mainly used during battle and camp activities.

"Enough about me and my boring dull life," Nico stated. "What about you?"

Katie laughed at this. "You don't have a boring life, you're a half-blood. Unless your standards of boring are far more different than mine."

Nico smiled, then asked again, "No, really, what about you? How have _you_ been?"

"Well, I've been doing pretty good… most of the time," she said, grinning and jumping over stubborn twigs and tree roots that stuck out of the ground. Nico followed her, his mood becoming more eased by the second. "My siblings are good, no one's been hurt since the war last year… and I'm glad about that. Um, I got a letter from my dad, my stepmother and my two younger brothers last week--"

"I didn't know you had brothers that weren't half-bloods," Nico said, genuinely interested.

"I do, they're both nine and their names are Drew and Charlie. I love them, but they can be annoying at times," she finished with a smile.

Slowly, as Katie continued to talk for a little longer, Nico felt an easy, wide smile forming on his face. It was easy to relax around her. She was so easy going and laidback, she was easy to talk to. He nearly forgot that she was taken. They kept easily strolling through the woods until the trees seem to form a distinct path, which was fairly easier to walk through.

"Can you believe that the first two weeks of camp are already over?" she asked in a voice of awe.

"No," Nico said in disbelief. "It seems like only a few days." He sighed, now feeling the summer slipping away from him, _and_ his chances of winning Katie's heart. But, there were still two months and a half left of the glorious vacation from school, so there was still no need to worry.

"Yeah," Katie said as they made their way to the edge of the forest, where Nico had began his walk. "Times flies." She smiled. "Look at me, I sound like my dad."

Nico grinned and opened his mouth to say something, before he looked around him and realized that the sun was close to setting.

"I think we should go now," he said, both of them walking back toward the cabins.

When they finally reached the cabins of Zeus and Hera, Nico headed to the Hades cabin on the right side and Katie headed toward the Demeter cabin on the left.

"Goodbye, I guess," Nico said, his cheeks burning at the sound of his added 'I guess.'

"Bye, Nico," Katie said, retreating back to her cabin and waving after him. "Nice talking to you."

"You too," he threw over his shoulder, smiling to himself, now feeling a lot better than he had before.

Katie gave a sad smile as she watched him walk away. Well, at least she had gotten _some_ time to talk to and bond with the son of the death.

* * *

_Author's Note: _So, what'd you guys think of this chapter? I felt like my writing was a little off. Was it really that horrible?


End file.
